Google’s new algorithm for its search engine feature is simple: go for quality content if you want to appear on the first page. As a business owner, whether for a corporation or a small startup, having a blog that’s constantly updated is your ticket to keeping your presence fresh and relevant. If your pages are not at all optimized, or have only minimal content for Google to crawl, you can’t expect to be anywhere in the first 10 pages, even if you’re in a very specific and limited niche.

A blog is your business website’s way of providing this quality content. The more of these beautiful articles you have, the more relevant you will be in the industry — and the more visible you are to Google. The most common questions asked on the relevance of blogs include:

– My industry is too boring and bland; who would want to read about lug nuts and bolts? – Who would bother click on the blog section of my website? – What’s my ROI if I start a blog? – Who will write the articles and update it?

Here are five reasons why your business website needs to have a blog section.

It establishes your expertise.

A well-written blog featuring topics relevant to your industry positions you as an authority in the business. The more content you upload, the more knowledge you impart to your readers, and the more reliable you will appear to your customers. If content is king, quantity is its queen. The more you know and share about a topic, the more trust and respect you earn from both the market and your competitors. Of course, quality content does not just land on your lap. If you can’t update your blog regularly yourself, you should hire a professional writer who understands your business to make sure your site is regularly populated and search engine optimized.

It shows off your voice and personality.

One of the biggest perks of blogging is that it connects you with people who have the same interest as you. While these readers may just be fans at first, it is this very crowd who will become your brand evangelists. Eventually, you draw in the kinds of personalities that your business wants to link up with. By showing that a real person is behind the awesome content, your brand becomes even more attractive to your target market.

It helps generate more leads.

The ultimate goal of your website, and why you are blogging in the first place, is to build a reputation for your business and to generate more customers. Having a vast content base will boost your ssearch engine rankings, thus exposing you to plenty more eyes who might want to buy or partner up with you. A great website is one that is well designed to impress and convert clients. Blogging is the perfect way to bring people in.

It brings your brand to life.

A mere website has none of the “personal” touch that many readers are looking for these days. You want your website to truly connect to your market and interact with your potential clients on a whole new and positive plane. With a blog, you set up a platform to engage with your readers and give helpful advice (not necessarily to sell, although that’s subjective). You can provide the latest news and updates about your industry and customers will you as their go-to site anytime they need information.

It is inexpensive.

A blog is a relatively inexpensive tool to market your business. It also doesn’t cost much to operate. Of course, you need to invest in a person or a team who can update it regularly with high-quality content. The problem with some blogs nowadays is that they are pretty much empty, even with a vast bank of articles. A good writer will ensure that the content is fresh and relevant, so that people will want to continue reading and coming back for more.

To make your blog stand out more, you can integrate videos, graphs, case studies, and photos. Remember that not all Internet users enjoy reading. Some of them want to just watch or listen. By applying different forms of media to reinforce your articles will also generate a new type of market to further boost your conversion rates.